‘Yolanda’ housing project neglected

PASTRANA, Leyte: Mayor Marites Cayaco Marcos is asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to take action on the abandoned “Yolanda” housing project located in her town.

Mayor Marcos told The Manila Times that there are more than 900 housing units intended for the survivors of the 2013 Super Typhoon “Yolanda” at Barangay Aringit that have been abandoned by Ruvic Construction, the private contractor of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Tacloban City.

The mayor said the private contractor and the NHA officials met with her in September 2019 and discussed the completion of the housing project but until today, it has not been completed.

“We are deprived because many of the beneficiaries are still awaiting the completion of the NHA housing project nine years after the super typhoon,” said Mayor Marcos, who has sought the intervention of the President for the completion of the NHA project.

She said many of the supposed beneficiaries of the housing project are now living in no-build zones. Others, she said, are living in private lands and are now being evicted by the land owners.

At present, more than 100 families have occupied the housing units but they are living without electricity and water connections.

“Power and water lines could not be installed because they have not yet been turned over by the private contractor to the NHA,” Mayor Marcos added.

“The housing units are already deteriorating and need immediate completion.”

The Times tried but failed to reach the private contractor and NHA officials in Tacloban City at press time.

The contracted cost of the NHA housing project was not also known.

The housing projects for Yolanda victims in the towns of Cariaga and Julita have also been abandoned, reports said.